Despite Un-American Ideas, Putin Is Seeing More Republican Support

Vladimir Putin has stifled free speech, jailed his critics and profited from Russian corruption. So why is he becoming a partisan figure in the U.S.?

SHOW TRANSCRIPT

Vladimir Putin killed free speech, jailed his critics and profited from deep corruption in his country. And yet, he's now a politically partisan figure in the U.S.

Somehow, feelings on Russia's president are becoming a wedge issue, with Americans becoming more split on approval. That's strange, considering how un-American his ideas are — like silencing private press and bringing media under state control.

Since he became president, 34 journalists have been killed in Russia. Only a handful of those cases have seen any justice.